The Couch Critics

Pasta, Puppies, And A Classic Love

• Season 5 • Episode 81

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The spaghetti kiss still hits. The question is what to do with everything around it. We pull up a cushion for Lady and the Tramp and get honest about why this 1955 Disney classic remains beloved, where it shows its age, and how modern context changes the way we watch. From the painterly backdrops and quietly brilliant character animation to the talk-heavy pacing that invites an accidental sofa snooze, we unpack the craft that made a simple love story between a cocker spaniel and a mutt feel big and warm.

We also step into the thorny middle: the Siamese cat sequence that now carries a content advisory. Rather than dodge it, we get into how caricature lands today, why Disney’s live-action remake tried to reframe the moment, and what works or doesn’t when studios retrofit old stories. If you’re a parent choosing family movie night, we share a practical way to navigate nostalgia and representation: keep the film, add the conversation, and give kids language to think critically without losing the joy.

And about the holidays: yes, it opens and closes on Christmas, but the core story doesn’t ride on the season. Our verdict puts Lady and the Tramp at zero on the Christmas scale while still recognizing its cozy pull, iconic alleyway serenade, and side characters that steal scenes—looking at you, Scottish terrier and whistling beaver. We cap it with split ratings, favorite moments, and a peek at what we’re reviewing next. Press play, then tell us: classic comfort, complicated relic, or both?

If you enjoyed this conversation, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more film lovers find us.

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SPEAKER_00:

On the couch we laugh and cry and feeling it all Breaking down the big screen, the hits and the flaw. Have your seat, let's play, let's take the pick. Lights, camera, action, it's the couch critic.

SPEAKER_04:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to a brand new episode of The Couch Critics. I'm your host, Nathan, and on today's episode, I'm joined with my good friend Lexi. Hi, Lexi. How are you?

SPEAKER_02:

Hello. How are you?

SPEAKER_04:

I'm great.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm back.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Because, you know, good times. This gives us a reason to like actually still be friends and like converse.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Life be life and we don't get to see each other other side is outside of this.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, we're we're both teachers and we're both actors. Well, uh, you act more than I do.

SPEAKER_01:

No, but you got the improv coming back.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I got some improv coming back. Yeah, as the when this episode drops, it is the day of our improv show. So you're if you're local in Fayetteville, North Carolina, come out to River House Church Pumpkin Patch. We'll be doing some improv. I have my friend Thomas on the last cinema Saturday episode. So he's gonna be there. And uh a lot of us from the Unnecessaries improv troop are gonna be putting on some improv comedy, family friendly and 100% free.

SPEAKER_02:

So I like it. I'm gonna come and see one soon. That is my goal.

SPEAKER_04:

That's what Lixi always says. She always says she's gonna see stuff that I do, and then she doesn't.

SPEAKER_02:

So I'm going to do it soon.

SPEAKER_04:

Soon as I get out of rehearsal, let's just say she's one of the friends that I invite to like Facebook events, and she puts interested, which usually means interested in doing people share it to all my 6,000 friends on Facebook. So thank you. And none of your 6,000 friends on Facebook show up either.

SPEAKER_02:

You know what? I try. I try, I try.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, you know else we try. We try to watch movies and we try to review them. Maybe not as in-depth as other podcasts do, but that's okay because we're just the couch critics. Where so we just sit on a couch and we watch movies, which is what we did with this one, Lady and the Tramp. The cartoon version, people, not the live action, even though the live action one actually wasn't that bad. It wasn't that bad. Now, Lexi's giving me a face she can't see because it's the podcast, but I actually didn't think it was as terrible as it could have been. Obviously, they made some changes because they had to be, you know, politically correct, and we'll talk about that a little bit with this movie. They they uh ginger swapped the Scottish dog, was now a female Scottish dog, so but I really didn't care about that because it's a dog character. It's not like it's not like I'm like totally invested in Lady and the Tramp. But we're not talking about the live action, we're talking about the cartoon version, and before we can talk about our likes and dislikes, I gotta go over the synips.

SPEAKER_03:

The romantic tale of a sheltered uptown cocker spaniel dog and a streetwise downtown mutt.

SPEAKER_04:

Lady and the Tramp stars Peggy Lee, Larry Roberts, Bill Buckham, Verna Felton, and Barbara Lutty. Now, strangely enough, on IMDB, Barbara Luddy, who voices Lady, isn't even in the top cast. Peggy Lee is, and Peggy Lee was a famous singer back in those days. So she played like the wife, and she also played C and M and Peg. So I guess those are other characters in the movie that she played. So interesting little fact right there that the lady who played Lady isn't even the in the named in the top cast. So that's interesting. So let's talk about what did we think of the Disney classic Lady and the Tramp? Lexi, I'm always interested to know what you think because every time we talk about movies, you always have the complete opposite feeling that I have about movies. So I'm really interested. What did you think of the Disney classic Lady and the Tramp?

SPEAKER_02:

Lady and the Tramp? Lady and the Tramp is one of my favorite cartoon movies. And I love this movie, it's so cute. Now, rewatching it as an adult, I can see some of the things that probably will not pass in 2025. Some of this stuff would probably get shut down, canceled. But growing up, I love Lady in a tramp. Oh my gosh, my favorite scene is obviously when they eat the spaghetti. The meatball is so stinking cute. So, yes, I love this movie, which I'm pretty sure you was expecting me to hate it.

SPEAKER_04:

I don't know. I mean, all the other Christmas movies we talked about so far, you thoroughly disliked. So I like Jingle Djangle. You did like Jingle Jangle, but you thought I wasn't gonna like it. So you always have some kind of misconception about movies. But I I figured because this was a cartoon, then maybe you would like it a little bit more, and so I think that probably and maybe that's why you don't like the live action because it's live action.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't like the live action because yes, I understand why some of the jokes were offensive. I also do not like it because they tried to over politically correct it, and they could have just left it for what it is because at the end of the day, they're animals, and I'm like, I don't know, and I just think the world is too sensitive.

SPEAKER_04:

If you're listening and you don't know what we're talking about, I believe this was like one of the first movies that Disney on Disney Plus they started putting like disclaimers before the movie or like on the descriptions of the movie. Now it's still it's still there in like the descriptions, and I think at one point they actually cut this part out of the the cartoon and then they face backlash, and so they put it back in. And it's the part with the Siamese twins, the Siamese Siamese twins, the Siamese cat twins that they sing though, we are Siamese, if you please. Okay, and that it's it could come off as stereotypical to I guess Japanese people, just because the way they sing the song and the music, and but if you watch it, the lyrics. I mean, I don't know. Uh to me, it doesn't, and and this is coming from an American white guy, so I could be totally off base. But I don't see like lyric-wise, I don't see the offense, maybe the characterization of the cats, maybe because I know the Arista Cats is the exact same way. If you've ever seen that movie, there's a part where one of the characters is supposed to be a stereotypical Japanese cat, and so there's that as well. And I'm sure if I go find that on Disney Plus, there probably is like a warning for that as well. So yeah, but Disney Disney has since put that, you know, it's it's there's scenes in this movie that could be offensive, stereotypical. I mean, it's their movie, they can put whatever they want, but to me, uh, it's it's a funny part of the movie because the cats get lady in trouble. Now, I will say, when I re-watch this movie, I guess I'm just getting old because I found this has happened a lot to me when I watch movies nowadays. I fell asleep, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep during the We Are Siamese song, anyway. So I didn't even see that part when I watched it, and then I finished it with my children the next day. So I I really do like this movie. I think obviously it has those classic moments, like Lexi already said, when the lady and the tramp dogs, they're eating the spaghetti and they share the noodle. You know, it's just it's just classic Disney, and so it is cute, it is fun. I I don't think there's really anything in it that's too questionable for kids because again, it's a it's a classic Disney cartoon, it's not a modern day Disney cartoon, so there's nothing really questionable, there's nothing that they have to be careful about your kids watching, unless you don't want them to see stereotypical characters and animals, whatever. But I don't think there's really anything wrong with it. And this movie is sweet and it's cute and has fun songs in it, and has fun characters. I love the Scottish dog. I love is isn't this the one who's your favorite? I really uh because this is the one with the beaver in it, right? Who like w whistles every time he talks. I think that that's a fun character. I mean, I would have to say, I would have to say maybe the is it a bulldog, I think. Because the voice of Schmidt, yeah, the classic Peter Pan cartoon. So I love I just love his voice anyway. So it would probably be a tie between him and the Scottish Terrier. Those are probably my two favorite characters.

SPEAKER_02:

The blood I love, which I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I'm gonna say it. The Siamese cats are like my two favorites. I love I rewatched that scene so much as a kid, which is hilarious because everybody thinks it's offensive. And I'm like, as a child, I loved that scene.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, I mean, again, it's it's another classic Disney song, and and what they did with the live action was I thought was really dumb because they made those characters. I guess they were supposed to be like interior decorator cats or whatever, and they're not really ruining the house, they're just trying to redecorate it. But in the cartoon, they're blatantly messing with the house and trying to cause chaos. And yeah, I think it translated well what the cats were supposed to be doing in the cartoon than it did in the live action. But the whole reason we're talking about this movie, Lexi, is because it is on our Christmas list. And I I told somebody, I think it was probably Thomas, when I talked about like giving like a preview that we're gonna be talking about this movie. And I said, Yeah, for some reason it's on the Christmas list. And he's like, Oh, yeah, there's some Christmas. I'm like, Yeah, but it's one of those movies that it just has, I think it begins with a Christmas scene, and it I believe it ends with a Christmas scene. It ends with a Christmas scene, but the rest of the movie has nothing to do with no mention of Christmas, so it's it's again, it's like the movie about a boy. It's about a few other movies that are on here that I'm like, why? Why why is it on a Christmas list? So, Lexi, what are your thoughts on the the Chris? Should this be considered a Christmas movie at all?

SPEAKER_02:

So, you know, I'm very um critical when it comes to this part. Melody and Tramp is not a Christmas movie. If you take Christmas out of it, you take the word mean mention you could have said the beginning of the movie started at New Year's and ended in Easter, and it will still be the same movie. Like, I I don't see the Christmas aspect. I know the stretch you can make, or it makes you feel like love and all this other stuff that we try to scratch into a Christmas movie, but it's not a Christmas movie at all.

SPEAKER_04:

See, see, I'm not gonna try to do that with this one because I don't feel and and some people listening might be like, Well, you did it for that one movie that only had one mention of Christmas. I think it was catch me if you can't. I I think I gave it a pretty decent Christmas rating, even though it literally like the drive through the whole movie was based on Christmas a little bit. And then you find out later that that didn't even happen in the true story of that movie. So with this movie, I'm not gonna try to say, Oh, it makes me feel warm and cozy and makes me feel like Christmas. No, it doesn't, it doesn't make me feel like Christmas at all. I I think this movie, like you said, it could have begun with the wife's birthday, and she gets a puppy for her birthday, and then maybe the end of the movie is it's the husband's birthday, and he gets he gets to adopt the tramp or something. I don't know. But yeah, this movie was just it's a good movie, it's classic Disney. Like I said, it's there's nothing questionable in it. You can watch it with your kids. Obviously, yes, there are some things that are a bit dated, but that just makes it to me, and this could be sound really bad, but to me, the the the outdated stuff is what makes it more nostalgic. It's like that's what makes it classic Disney because you're like, man, Disney did some crazy stuff and they got away with it. And nowadays you watch it and you're like, well, can't watch that anymore because you know, society.

SPEAKER_02:

It also like classic Disney, it reminded me of when I'm trying to choose my words carefully because I don't want to send the wrong message. It reminded me of like when Disney wrote movies that were fun and not political.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, they just they were just telling stories, yeah. Like at that point in time, they were just telling fun stories, putting colorful characters in there, whimsical, crazy, out there, out-of-the-box characters, and they just told good stories. And nowadays, like you said, they have to feel they feel the need to be politically correct, they have to push the message.

SPEAKER_02:

And I do think not Disney is not the only one who does that. A lot of movies are doing it right now. Let me just start out there. Some people think I'm hating on the mouse. A lot of people are now going to this political driven and no longer telling the story, and I do miss that part. It's probably why I still like Lady and Tramp, because it just told a story.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, and I feel like Disney does it a lot more, yeah, and and they don't care about the backlash that they might get because they're just surrounded with people who have a certain thing that they want to put out there and they're gonna do it no matter what anybody thinks. But let's not go down that rabbit trail because we're talking about Lady and the Tramp. I think we kind of talked about it. What we liked. Was there anything that you didn't like about Lady and the Tramp?

SPEAKER_02:

In the 1955 movie, it came out in 1955, right? I think, yeah. Yes, no, I think if I put myself back into like little kid Alex is when her mom first showed her Lady and Tramp, which I still have the VCS, the VC VHS tape of it. I'm actually looking at it right now. I don't remember anything I dislike about the movie, even re-watching it. I didn't dislike anything. Like I, if anything, I had more beef with the live action than I do with this one. I don't think I don't like is probably that they they mentioned Christmas for no reason, and that I feel like that never had an end, but that's about it.

SPEAKER_04:

See, the thing I didn't like about it is, and it has probably has nothing to do with the movie. I just didn't like that I fell asleep. Like, this is like the third, maybe fourth movie I've watched during this Christmas journey that I've fallen asleep while watching. And it is a long one.

SPEAKER_02:

And also, there's been six 75 minutes long, I think. It is a long one.

SPEAKER_04:

It is a really like I I think I think the pull is that they're animals, and so I get I think Disney was like, hey, there's our animals, so we can make a pretty talk-heavy movie. And when I say talk heavy movie, I mean there's like just a lot of talking in this movie, not a lot of action in it, which I don't I'm not expecting from a classic Disney movie to there there to be a lot of action, but there's just a lot of talking, and when there's a lot of talking, I tend to get kind of bored, and so I think that's why I fell asleep. But then, you know, I've fallen asleep during you know, cinema Saturday and Cinema Sunday episodes too, like Tron, for example. I fell asleep during that. So I feel like I'm getting at the age, you know, I just turned 39 and I sit on the couch and I just automatically get really, really tired. And yeah, that's my justification for for why I fell asleep. So those are my thoughts. Those I think that's Lexi's thoughts on Lady and the Tramp. Are there any final thoughts you might have before we can go ahead? No, let's show your head. No, so we can go right to the rating. First and foremost, our Christmas rating. How would you rate Lady and the Tramp as a Christmas movie? Lexi, I'd give it a zero. Yeah, I'm gonna get I'm gonna give it a zero too because there's no payoff, it doesn't make me feel like Christmas. There's no reason for Christmas to be mentioned, it's never mentioned again. It's just there as a plot device to give a puppy to a wife. Thought there, and I don't even remember how I think I might have fallen asleep at the end, too, because I don't remember how they tie it together with Christmas at the end. Like, is that when they decide to do it? Yeah, tramp. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Okay, well, Merry Christmas. So those are that that's our thought on Christmas. So, general rating, what would you give us a general movie in general? 4.5. See, I'm not gonna go that high because again, I fell asleep. It is a cute movie, it's just very much a talk-heavy cartoon. So, I'm gonna give Lady and the Tramp a 3.5 out of five.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, it's bad. It's like in the middle, you know. We are never gonna be on the same page. We start before I just went a point down. We we but we were close this time. This is the closest we've been in a long time. I thought I gave it a one. I gave it a 3.5.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh gosh, if you'd have gave Lady and Tramp in a one, we would have been no, I would not do that because again, I I I honor classic movies, and to me, Lady and Tramp should be considered a classic movie, so that is why I gave it a 3.5, and we're almost done with the month of October. I just realized that this is crazy. So, our last movie of October for Tuesday is it happened on Fifth Avenue. I don't believe I've ever seen this movie. Lexi just made an exciting face, so I guess she's gonna be hopping on that episode.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, I am now. Watch when I go back and rewatch it.

SPEAKER_04:

Um well, and I have to I have to record it before the episode drops because my wife and I will be going on our ninth wedding anniversary trip. So I will not be here when that episode drops. So we have to record that and my mystery cinema Sunday episode. I still don't know what I'm gonna go see. So there's that. So it happened on Fifth Avenue on Tuesday and Mystery Cinema Sunday on I have suggestions. What is it the anime?

SPEAKER_02:

No, no, because you're not gonna be on theaters anymore. Because you know, because you're not gonna appreciate that one. If you don't appreciate it, I'm gonna be sad. But I have thoughts.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay, what's your suggestion?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, wait, I thought it was supposed to be a mystery. I can't tell you.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, you can you can suggest it. Um, I might not take it. That's the mystery. You should go review Chainsaw Man.

SPEAKER_04:

You want me to review Chainsaw Man on the Couch Critics where every movie gets its close-up.

SPEAKER_00:

It's not just a movie, it's a wave of life. We'll watch it together. They are not closed, and don't miss it. This is the moment of the

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Nathan

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